Blooming Love Potions
by Applebucker77
Summary: Rainbow Dash makes a freaky discovery while sleeping over at Applejack's house. Rated T for now...


Rainbow Dash knocked on the door to Applejack's room. "Be there in a sec!" came the gruff reply.

Rainbow was going to spend the night at Sweet Apple Acres. It was a special occasion, Applejack's first day off in months. Now that it was harvest time, The whole farm was working nonstop to produce apples and the seemingly endless variations of apple products.

Applejack of course was exhausted, so a sleepover was something Rainbow really had to push for. They didn't hang out as much as they used to, thanks to Rainbow's relationship with her new marefriend, Twilight. They had been dating for nearly a month, and they were moving rather fast, having sex for the first time after only the second date.

It was nice, dating Twilight. She was a rather attractive mare, and very generous pony when it came to lovemaking. She was also caring, and very gentle when it came to Rainbow Dash's emotions. It was nice, but it wasn't very exciting.

"Be there in a sec!" shouted Applejack. She opened the door, and Rainbow almost didn't recognize her. Her eyes and hair sagged a little, and she held her head low, her mouth hanging open as if she hadn't had a drink in days.

"Holy Celestia, Applejack! When was the last time you slept?"

She blinked slowly. "Ugh. I dunno. Y'all wanna come in?"

"Oh, sure." Rainbow walked in and plopped down on a beanbag chair. Applejack followed, crashing on her big, soft bed.

_Maybe I should just let her sleep,_ thought Rainbow.

"Y' okay, AJ?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine."

"Good."

"Come on, there's some leftover fritters in the kitchen."

The rest of the day was pleasant. They enjoyed apple pastries, watched bad action flicks, and played board games, including one that Rainbow just couldn't get the hang of. By the time they were both tired, it was nearly 10:30.

Applejack climbed into bed, yawning loudly. Rainbow Dash rolled out her sleeping bag on the side, like she always did.

"Hey, Rainbow?"

"Yeah?"

"If I start to snore, you can go sleep in Applebloom's room. She's stayin' at Scootaloo's tonight."

"Got it," said Rainbow, and the lights were shut off.

"HAWCKK, HAWCKK!" was the sound that Rainbow woke to. There wasn't a shred of light to find the source of the sound, but Rainbow didn't need it to guess.

Applejack was flopped over the side of her bed, snoring like a bear.

"Ugh." Rainbow _really _didn't want to get up. The clock read 12:38 A.M.

She flopped back down, and tried to ignore the awful sound.

But she couldn't.

She got up, shook out her mane, fluttered her wings, and left the room.

She opened the door to Applebloom's room slowly, and turned on the lights.

_Hmm. _It was kinda cute, a little canopy bed on the left, a pink-rimmed window at the back, a golden wood floor, and blue-and-purple striped wallpaper.

Suddenly Rainbow noticed something.

There was a lump under the covers.

Rainbow furrowed her brow, then walked over to the bed. She lifted her hoof, and poked the covers. To her surprise, it moved.

She took the covers between her teeth and yanked on them. When she looked at what was in the bed, she screamed.

It was Applebloom, but with one change.

**She wasat **_**least**_ **ten years older.**

She leapt at Rainbow, and put a hoof over her mouth.

"Shhh, don't wake up Applejack! She'll kill me if she found out!" Adult Applebloom whispered fiercely.

Rainbow stared at her. Her voice was different. It wasn't exactly like Applejack's, but it wasn't the cute, innocent voice she had before, either.

Rainbow shoved her hoof away, and whispered with the same ferocity. "What the hell happened to you? You're... older!"

"Yes, I know."

Silence.

Rainbow stared at her in awe. Her lips formed the word "How?"

Applebloom sighed. "I'll show ya." She trotted over to her bed, and pulled a wooden crate out from under it. When she lifted the lid, she picked up one of the numerous green bottles in between her teeth, and passed it to Rainbow.

Rainbow read the label on the small green bottle. It read,

**Time Tonic**

**Still not old enough to drive?**

**Parents keeping you from watching movies?**

**Not old enough to vote?**

**Take a couple swigs of this and you will!**

**Recommended dosage: Take 1 ounce for every year you would like to age.**

**Warning: Do NOT take more than 2 ounces at a time.**

"So you drank the whole bottle?"

Applebloom looked like she was about to cry "I was just excited, I-I was gonna read the label, I swear, but I..." Tears formed in her eyes.

Rainbow sighed. _Maybe she needs my help to fix this. _Rainbow remembered feeling the same way when she got into trouble as a filly.

She sighed again. _She's still not getting off _that _easy._ "Why'd ya do it Applebloom?"

Applebloom paused, as if she had forgotten the reason. Suddenly, she spoke.

"I just thought that if I was older, I would have a cutie mark. I-I'm so tired of not having one."

Rainbow wasn't that shocked, but she was a little pissed. _Are you fucking kidding me? Not __**this**_ _again. She's worse than Scootaloo!_

"Applebloom, for the last time_, _you have to _earn_ your cutie mark. Stop taking potions and abusing your body like this. Remember that time you got the cutie pox? You're gonna make yourself _really_ sick. When the time comes, you'll get a cutie mark, and you'll be glad you waited. I know I did. Okay?"

The redhead sniffed. "Sure."

"Good."

Applebloom looked like she was about to say something else, but she said nothing.

"Okay. Now let's fix this mess. Where did you get these bottles from?"

Her eyes were still rimmed with red. "Zecora."

_Really?_ "Did she really let you have these?"

"Well, no. I...kinda...stole them."

_Celestia, Applebloom, you're more of a rebel than I thought._ "Well, do you think she would have an antidote?"

"I thought I saw somethin' like one."

"Well, then let's see if we can sneak a bottle. Now, I'm not going to tell anypony what you did, but you can't _ever_ do anything like this again."

She wiped her muzzle. "Okay."

They silently crept out of Applebloom's room, and slunk down the hallway like a couple of weasels. Once they were outside, Applebloom spoke, her voice growing shaky again.

"Y-you're not mad at me, are ya, Rainbow Dash?"

Rainbow had to be honest. "Well I'm not happy that you stole from Zecora,"

Applebloom looked at the ground.

"But I have to admit, you're quite a little rebel if ever I saw one."

She blushed. "Thank you, Rainbow".

It was a full moon out that night, thankfully, for it would be quite a trek through the Everfree forest to make it to Zecora's hut.

Rainbow wasn't used to walking, and her hooves felt itchy against the warm, fluffy grass of mid-autumn. She wanted to spread her wings and take to the air, but if she did, then Applebloom would be left to fend for herself.

Rainbow was _unbelievably_ tired when Applebloom spotted Zecora's hut.

"We're almost there! Come on, Rainbow!" Applebloom cantered gaily to the tiny hut.

"How do you earth ponies walk for so long?" Rainbow gasped, still trying to catch her breath running from a lion they met not too long ago.

When Rainbow finally gave up and fluttered toward the house, she stood next to Applebloom, looking through the window. There were a couple small candles on, but Zecora was nowhere in sight.

Before Rainbow could say anything, Applebloom began to crawl through the window.

"Applebloom! What are you doing?"

"I've done this a million times, Rainbow. Zecora's never caught me."

"Yeah, but you were just a little filly then! What are you gonna say when she catches you and you're a mare?"

Applebloom paused.

"I'll come with you." Rainbow squeezed herself through the window, and Applebloom followed closely behind.

Rainbow heard a light snoring, and followed the snore to a locked door. _Must be Zecora's bedroom._

"Is she asleep?" Applebloom breathed into her ear.

Rainbow whipped around, surprised at Applebloom's stealth. "Yeah."

"Good." She took a couple of deep breaths.

"Rainbow, I... have something I should confess." Applebloom looked at the floor, and swallowed, mentally preparing herself for what she was about to say. "There's a-another reason I took the potion. I took it, 'cause I knew you were comin' over tonight, and I...well, I... wanted to spend some time, some _alone _time with you."

Rainbow's stomach flipped over. _Alone time?_

She spoke slowly. "Applebloom, what are you trying to say?"

She looked like she was ready to cry again. "I wanna…you know. Scootaloo talks about you all the time, not in a sexual way, though, and I just... got a little..." Her voice cracked. "...C-cru-crush on you."

Rainbow was genuinely shocked, and hadn't the most _remote _idea of what to say. "Uhh... Applebloom, I have a marefriend. Look, you're a cool pony and all, but I just don't...I just can't...I'm flattered, but... we're only friends."

Applebloom sighed, then looked at her hooves. "Okay."

Rainbow hated the feeling of rejecting somepony. "Maybe next week you and I could go see a movie or something... cause you're still my friend."

"I guess..."

"Don't feel too bad about it, okay?"

Appleboom mumbled a barely audible agreement. "Can we just find the potion and go?"

"Sure."

Applebloom turned around and headed for the potions closet.

"I'm sorry!" Rainbow called after her.

Applebloom slammed the door behind her after turning on the light.

_Yep. Definitely worse than Scootaloo._

Rainbow hated awkward situations like this, but she knew that leaving Applebloom there would just make things worse. Not knowing what else to do while waiting, she decided to explore.


End file.
